2012: Romney doesn't want overexposure

“Three contenders for the GOP's presidential nomination will speak at a conservative gathering in Minnesota next week that's billed as the right's answer to the liberal Netroots Nation conference,” The Hill reports. “Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Rep. Michele Bachmann (Minn.) and former Godfather's Pizza CEO Hermain Cain will all speak at the RightOnline conference in Minneapolis, which is being held during the same time and in the same city as Netroots Nation.”

“Five Republican presidential hopefuls have signed on for the Iowa Tea Party Bus Tour this summer: Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Gary Johnson and Rick Santorum,” The Des Moines Register reports. “The three-week bus tour, the first in Iowa for the tea party movement, will make stops in 20 cities starting June 13 in Council Bluffs.”

BACHMANN: “Ed Rollins, the high-profile political strategist who managed Ronald Reagan’s 1984 re-election landslide, has agreed to run Rep. Michele Bachmann’s campaign in the likely event that she runs for president,” the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. “I’m helping her put together a campaign, if there is one,” Rollins said.

GINGRICH: Gingrich, who was last seen publicly on May 27th, was discovered to be on a cruise through the Greek isles, along with other notable guest Twiggy, the ‘70s fashion icon, Politico writes.

HUNTSMAN: Huntsman is getting plenty of Iowa pushback on his comments last week that he would not campaign there because of his position against ethanol subsidies, including from Iowa’s secretary of state Matt Schultz, who said Huntsman’s excuse has as much credibility as “the dog ate my homework,” the Salt Lake Tribune reports. “We are not single-issue voters,” Schultz said. Schultz, a Mormon, also criticized Huntsman from distancing himself from his faith. “Mr. Huntsman should know that Iowans elected me as their secretary of state and my Mormon faith was never an issue,” Schultz said.

Des Moines Register columnist Kathie Obradovich also hits Huntsman hard on the issue, saying Huntsman is “out of touch” with Iowa voters in scapegoating ethanol. “If Sen. Chuck Grassley is willing to scale back ethanol subsidies, it can’t be such an alien concept to Iowa Republicans. That Huntsman apparently doesn’t know that means he’s probably right on one point: He wouldn’t do very well in Iowa. It also means he won’t do very well in a lot of other states, besides.”

“Students for Daniels” endorsed Huntsman now that Daniels isn’t running.

PALIN: Sarah Palin's version of Paul Revere's ride has triggered a tug of war over the Wikipedia entry on that historic event,” the AP writes. “Dozens of changes were made to the Revere page on the Internet site Sunday and Monday after Palin claimed Revere's famous ride was intended to warn both his fellow colonists and British soldiers.”

On the conservative National Review’s website, Joel Miller, author of a book on Paul Revere, says he “groaned” when he heard Palin’s account and says she “basically got the whole story wrong.”

PAWLENTY: “Republican Tim Pawlenty was set to propose an economic policy Tuesday that would simplify individual tax rates to just three options and cut taxes on business by more than half as he offered himself as a replacement to Barack Obama in the Democratic president's hometown,” AP writes. “The former Minnesota governor also was to propose that any services available privately, such as the postal services or mortgages, should not be something government handles. He said he would require a vote in Congress to extend any regulation or he would cancel it. And he said he would eliminate taxes on investments and inheritances.”

ROMNEY:The Boston Globe: “Just days after announcing his presidential bid, Mitt Romney says not to expect him to hit the campaign hustings too hard anytime soon.” Romney said, “Right now, your greatest enemy is overexposure," he told CNN's Piers Morgan in his first major TV interview since his announcement. "People get tired of seeing the same person day in and day out."

Also on CNN, Romney denied that Sarah Palin’s bus stop in New Hampshire the same day of his presidential announcement in the state stole his thunder, the Los Angeles Times recounts. “"In a lot of respects it’s the best thing that could happen to me," he said. “‘I think Sarah Palin is generating enthusiasm and interest in a campaign this year. That’s a good thing,’ Romney explained. ‘She has a lot of energy and passion and bringing it to our race is positive for us.’”

Romney has already amassed a major donor base including a handful of former McCain backers, two donors each who were previously committed to Mitch Daniels and Haley Barbour, and even a former Obama donor, the Washington Post writes.

SANTORUM:AP fact checks his announcement: “Santorum omits key details on deficit.” “In announcing his Republican presidential bid, former Sen. Rick Santorum blamed President Barack Obama for a federal deficit that has many contributors, and he omitted important details about Obama's comments on America's past.”

“Former Sen. Rick Santorum opened his bid for the White House here denouncing federal health care reform as a power grab designed to create dependency and erode freedom,” the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes. “Tanned and smiling, Mr. Santorum walked to an outside podium under the portico of the Somerset County Courthouse carrying his 3-year-old daughter, Isabella, and followed by his wife, Karen, and the rest of their seven children.”

The Club for Growth is out with its white paper on Santorum: “On the whole, Rick Santorum’s record on economic issues in the U.S. Senate was above average. More precisely, it was quite strong in some areas and quite weak in others. He has a strong record on taxes, and his leadership on welfare reform and Social Security was exemplary. But his record also contains several very weak spots, including his active support of wasteful spending earmarks, his penchant for trade protectionism, and his willingness to support large government expansions like the Medicare prescription drug bill and the 2005 Highway Bill.”